After emerging as a movement in the research community, the Decentralized Science (DeSci) initiative is advancing rapidly, even if big pharma cannot resist. In fact, Pfizer is now the first pharma to choose a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) proposal from the German blockchain-based organization VitaDAO.
The collaboration is part of VitaDAO’s latest fundraising announced in late January from strategic members, including Pfizer Ventures, Shine Capital and L1 Digital, among other long-time fans. The $4.1 million raised will be used to fund long-term research projects and accelerate the spinout of VitaDAO’s first biotech startup, with two more in development for 2023.
“Pfizer is now bringing some of its own scientists to join the community of researchers that are part of VitaDAO to help incubate some of this research,” Alex Dobrin, community and awareness steward at VitaDAO, told Cointelegraph.
DeSci has fostered the emergence of a thriving ecosystem with projects ranging from the foundation of decentralized biotechnology to financing vehicles. “Some of the main trends in the field can include research & investment platforms, crowdfunding for scientific research, scientists and research communities,” explained Dr. Tuan Cao, founder of GenomicDAO, a San Francisco-based platform launched on February 19 by AI biotech company Genetika.
This decentralized platform aims to create a community to drive and manage precision medicine initiatives focused on Asia. DAO’s first subsidiary works on stroke prevention, targeting awareness and R&D for ischemic stroke.
Worldwide, stroke is one of the most common causes of vascular disability and death. The American Heart Association reported that there were more than 77 million ischemic strokes worldwide in 2019. The Asian population has a higher incidence of stroke than the Western population, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension in 2021.
GenomicDAO claims that the combination of a network of research groups, institutions, organizations, scientists and medical experts with artificial intelligence can reduce the time to release a new product from 12-18 months to 4-6 months. According to GenomicDAO, community-driven initiatives disrupt scientific research:
“In the precision medicine space, R&D is led by a few big names in the industry who de-facto monopolize the market. an underrepresented population.”